The Cyclical Pattern in Cree Philosophy A Study of Louise Bernice Halfe’s Poem “The End and the Beginning”

Authors

  • Chribuna Viswas Author

Keywords:

First Nations Women poetry-Rereading patriarchal oral narratives- Turn Around Woman, -or ê-kwêskît

Abstract

As an experimental poet stitching together various aspects of language, especially Cree and English, Louise Bernice Halfe (Sky Dancer )has introduced innovative styles in hybrid diction in conjugating history, myth, oral narration, testimonies, memories, actual incidents, the devastation of First Nations culture by the Church, the residential school system and its organised pogrom in annihilating and erasing the native way of perceiving the world and the robustness presence of women characters and strong views uplift her literary status to the leading position in Canadian Literature in general and specific in First Nations literature. This paper will introspect the concept of cyclical belief systems of Cree philosophy in "The End and the Beginning” from The Crooked Good (2008).

 

 

References

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Halfe, Louise Bernice. “Keynote Address: The Rolling Head’s “Grave” Yard.” Studies in

Canadian Literature, 1 Jan. 2006, journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/scl/article/view/10200/10548. Accessed 26 Apr. 2023.

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… The Crooked Good. Regina, Saskatchewan: Coteau Books, 2008.

McLeod, Neal. Cree Narrative Memory: From Treaties to Contemporary Times. Saskatoon: Purich Pub, 2007.

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Published

31-07-2023